OSU Faculty Club: Show offers prelude to fall retrospective

Sunday

May 11, 2014 at 12:01 AMMay 11, 2014 at 1:02 PM

Paul-Henri Bourguignon was a prolific artist, photographer, journalist and art critic who was devoted to commenting on the human condition. Born in Belgium in 1906, he trained at the Brussels Academie des Beaux Arts and, in the 1950s, settled in Columbus with his wife, who had joined the faculty of Ohio State University. He died in 1988 at age 81.

Paul-Henri Bourguignon was a prolific artist, photographer, journalist and art critic who was devoted to commenting on the human condition.

Born in Belgium in 1906, he trained at the Brussels Academie des Beaux Arts and, in the 1950s, settled in Columbus with his wife, who had joined the faculty of Ohio State University.

He died in 1988 at age 81.

On view through June?20 in the OSU Faculty Club, 181 S. Oval Mall, are 30 small figurative works in graphite, ink, gouache and acrylic.

The exhibit is a prelude to a large retrospective of Bourguignon’s work — scheduled to open on Oct. 17 at the Columbus Museum of Art.

Bourguignon was committed to the modernist ideal, painting with bold gestural marks and broad planes of color.

Although his subjects varied, he relied heavily on memories of the exotic — inspired by his travels through Europe, north Africa, Haiti and Peru.

Moroccan Woman, Waiting Geisha and Girl With a Basket, Haiti speak to his interest in people from other societies.

The acrylic painting In Her Room shows a woman in her home, resting her head on her hand. She seems pensive and perhaps lonely, and shows Bourguignon’s ability to convey empathy for others.

Throughout the exhibit, his works clearly try to capture the richness of the human experience.

For more information, call 614-292-2262 or visit www.ohio-statefaculty

club.com.

— Christopher A. Yates? cayates.dispatch? @earthlink.net?

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